This two-part workshop takes place on a leftover piece of land at Exit 30 off the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, a site maintained by volunteers through the Adopt-A-Highway program which, according to the program’s mission, is devoted to “beautification or other aesthetic-related activities.” During the workshop, we will use this location as a laboratory for exploring the role of waste, refuse, and acts of discarding in the formation of the urban landscape. We will play along the spectrum of owning, consuming, and throwing away, and follow the paths of objects beyond the moment at which they are initially discarded. In addition to studying the combination of systems that act on the landscape, we will take time to reorganize and reimagine the site through functional and aesthetic lenses. Finally, we will host an open house to share food and discussion with other workshop participants and visitors.

May 2 1-4pm: Collect & Analyze In this first session, we will examine the ways the site is shaped by the movements of animate and inanimate material in and around the island triangle. What are the discernible forces acting on the site? How does this site participate in broader urban ecosystems? We will document our findings in the form of movement scores and maps that will be shared with future visitors in a letterbox onsite.

May 10 1-4pm(Open House 4-5:30PM): Sort & Select In the second session, we will clean the site—collecting, re-organizing, and displaying discarded material. In addition to working with our observations of the site as we encounter it, we will also develop other possible uses for the site and its materials. We will conclude the session with an open house for visitors to experience the re-organized space and share food and discussion.

Please meet us directly at the site. Participants can take public transit to the site using either the G train to Classon Ave and walking to the site, or by taking the bus (B48, B69, or B44). Please wear clothing that covers your arms and legs and that you don’t mind getting a little dirty. We will be working with trash! Gloves will be provided. Bring any desired forms of documentation (camera, sketchpad, etc). We will provide all materials that are necessary, but participants are invited to contribute to documentation in their desired format.